


Pokémon for Profit

by Langstrand



Series: Pokémon for Profit [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Crimes & Criminals, Drama, Gen, Organized Crime, Romance, Some Humor, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-31
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-10 17:30:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5594824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Langstrand/pseuds/Langstrand
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Tell Don Giovanni this: you and all of your Rocket allies will fail. You will fail because your greed has blinded you. We live alongside Pokémon as friends; they are our partners, not tools, not currency. All true trainers know this. One day there will be someone – a braver and better man than I – who will come with all the power and might of his friends to stand against your corruption and profiteering, and he will put an end to you, and all of you who use Pokémon for profit."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pokémon for Profit

** Obituary: Yukinari Okido  
**1929-2012

****Yukinari Okido’s affable character and commitment to education made him a beloved figure for generations of Japanese trainers.** **

This eventually brought him worldwide fame, and as the pioneer of the Pokédex project, made him one of the most influential scientists in the world and the first in a new brand of “celebrity professors.”

A former World Champion, Okido – known affectionately in the West as Professor Oak – was for many years a key figure in the Japanese Pokémon League. It was his resignation from this organisation in 1990 that brought attention to the widespread corruption within the heart of the sport he worked so hard to promote.

****Talent for training****

Yukinari Okido was born on 4th September 1929 in the secluded town of Masara in Japan’s Kanto region. His childhood was spent battling Pokémon with his neighbours. But his true calling became apparent from an early age, as Okido later noted, “Even when I was young, my dream was to create a complete guide on all the Pokémon in the world.”

His parents were not wealthy, but they encouraged his talent for training by sending him to the Tokiwa City training school. It was here that he caught the attention of then Japanese number one Masayuki Onitsuka. Under his tutelage, Okido became the Kanto region’s first League Champion in 1948, defeating the Elite Four hastily assembled by American occupation authorities.

Within a decade, Okido had become Japan’s most successful Pokémon trainer, with two singles World Championships and two more doubles titles. His relationship with doubles partner, the American Rex Mottram, was frequently fraught, but their success on the battlefield made them lifelong friends until Mottram’s own death in 1989.

Okido’s success made him a focal point for positivity in post-war Japan, turning him into a household name. Despite this, Okido always felt underappreciated outside his home country, saying “When I went to America, nobody cared who I was. Rex took the headlines, but to them I was still the enemy.”

In 1956 Okido married fellow trainer Kikucho Umebachi, with whom he had a son. The relationship was short-lived, and his marriage and career ended amid rumours of infidelity.

****Friendly and engaging****

He returned to education in 1960, and fell out of public consciousness whilst completing a doctorate in biology at Yamabuki University, where he specialised in the relationship between humans and Pokémon. He spent several years as a lecturer across Japan and America. It was during this time that he was first courted by the Japanese Pokémon League.

It was a member of the JPL’s executive committee that the first stirrings of the Pokédex Project that became his life’s work began. Okido’s proposal, that young trainers sponsored by the Pokémon League should be use to observe the behaviour of the wild Pokémon they encountered, was met with initial scepticism, but soon became the model for training in all the Japanese regions.

Okido re-entered public life with regular television appearances, and eventually a weekly radio show called “Dr. Okido’s Lectures.” Wildly popular, it showcased his friendly and engaging style, and inspired a new generation of Pokémon researchers.

Although he had long been a respected figure abroad, his found international fame with the international translation of his book, “Welcome to the World of Pokémon,” a semi-autobiographical guide to Pokémon training. A Castelia Times Best Seller, it cemented his position as a leading authority on Pokémon across the world.

****Mentor to young trainers****

By the late 1980s, Okido had become disillusioned with the JPL, preferring to work from the solace of his lab in Masara rather than at the Indigo Plateau, where he spent his time researching and acting as a mentor to young trainers from the Kanto region. “There are still many mysteries to solve,” he said at the time, adding “That’s why I’m in my lab, studying Pokémon every day.”

In 1990, he quietly left the JPL’s executive committee, citing the pressures of his new role in his hometown. This led to allegations of corruption and links to organised crime within the league – accusations which were to be vindicated a decade later.

Okido, however, remained silent. His son and daughter-in-law’s deaths in a car accident had left him to care for his two grandchildren, and for several years he removed himself from the spotlight.

A revival of his radio show in 2000 and the fallout of the Team Rocket scandal the following year put Okido back in the public eye, but it was his mentoring of his grandson Shigeru "Green" Okido and 17-time World Championship winner Satoshi "Red" Masuda that defined his later career.

Of his two wards he was most proud: “I came as soon as I’d heard that Green had become League Champion. When I arrived, Red had already beaten him. They were unstoppable forces from the very first.”

Okido finally retired in 2008, his legacy long cemented. Young trainer programmes inspired by his own have adopted the Pokédex worldwide, and the corruption first revealed by his resignation has been rooted out of the Japanese League.

Despite his significant personal success, Okido remained humble. In one of his last interviews before his death, he credited his achievements to the trainers and colleagues that had surrounded him. ‘Thanks to them, the world of Pokémon is more vast, deeper, and more abundant. Now there will be no end to Pokémon research.”

 

* * *

 

**** Prologue: 1989 ** **

 

It was cold outside. A breeze rolled in hard and chill from the sea beyond, striking the figure standing alone at the top of the cliffs. Oak breathed deeply, taking in the sharp sea air, seemingly unperturbed by the temperature. His eyes were closed. Behind him, hidden partially by a line of low, bare cherry blossom trees, was a mansion sitting with its back to the cliffs. It was old, and traditionally built, low and wooden with a gently curving roof, but long years of neglect had left it an image of faded beauty, like a wild flower pressed between the pages of a book.

“This whole meeting has been nothing but a farce.” Oak turned away from the sea, churning grey below him at the base of the cliff. He sighed wearily. “How do you put up with these people, Mr. Shinanoki?”[1]

The figure approaching him across the grass stopped short. He stood to consider the question, licking his lips and shifting his moon-rimmed glasses up his nose: a perfectly composed, rehearsed expression of concentration. He was second-guessing himself before he even spoke. “I want to believe that the committee are doing only what they think best for the League.”

“But you don’t believe that,” said Oak. “You are many things, but you are not naïve.”

Shinanoki grimaced. “Perhaps. Corporate sponsorship isn’t a novel idea, you know. It’s been happening all over the world for years and I can’t see any other way the League is going to survive. We _need_ money, Professor, and we need it now.”

“Then let’s get it another way. An honest way. I will not have this great sport turned into another faceless corporate entity.”

“Now who’s being naïve? There’s no honest way of making money in this day and age.”

“You don’t sound like Daigo Shinanoki anymore. You’re just parroting Mr. Ohira. Don’t surrender your integrity.”

There was movement outside the mansion now. Men in dark suits slithered out of sliding doors. Oak could hear the murmur of conversation amid the lighting of cigarettes, a brief spark of fire and the ominous rising of smoke. The scene took on an ethereal quality in the pale light of the fading day, as if there were other forces at work.

“Professor, you know I respect you very much, but you must accept that time are changing. You and I risk becoming obsolete if we fail to adapt.”

Oak ignored him. His eyes remained fixed, probingly, upon the scene unfolding behind the mansion: a flask being passed around, the mocking, biting sound of laughter. Mr. Ohira was not to be scene. Oak pictured him skulking inside, accepting a stack of notes wrapped in a brown paper bag from his new masters. Suddenly, his eyes met another’s. A tall, half European man with dark brown hair slicked back, sharply dressed; a red handkerchief protruded from his breast pocket. He raised his hand in recognition, and started up the path towards the two men.

“Professor Oak, Mr. Shinanoki, would you care to join us for a drink to celebrate the new deal?” His coarse voice, coloured by years of heavy smoking was at odds with warm eyes and a low, respectful bow.

“I don’t believe we have been introduced, though I saw you at the meeting” said Oak.

“My name is Michael Arciere. I am what you might call an emissary of a friend who represents a group of trainers and business interests. It is this group that will supply the chief body of investment for this new deal.”

“Then it you who I have to blame.” Oak laughed weakly. “You know, of course, that I disagree with the committee’s decision.”

Arciere’s mouth curved into a smile. “Ah, of course. ‘Pokémon are friends, not assets.’ I enjoyed your speech, Professor. But that is why I come to you now. My client is a very powerful man, and it would serve his – and your – interests for the League to present a united front when the deal goes public. You would have his undying gratitude if you would grant him this small favour: back the decision, or resign quietly.”

“And why should I grant your _friend_ this favour?”

“Your research is in dire need of funding. The League can’t provide it, and I understand you have been passed over by the universities again. If you do this thing for my friend, we will absolutely guarantee that your lab will not want for anything as long as you need it. And if you have some other little troubles over the years, a phone call to me can solve your problems.”

Oak opened his mouth to respond. His face flushed red. “How dare you.” he said, teeth gritted. “How dare you come here and make this outrageous suggestion. I do not respond kindly to bribery. I suggest you leave here now before I have you thrown out.”

“That is not so wise an idea, Professor.” Arciere’s demeanour remained placid, almost reassuring. He raised a hand, and with a slight gesture, summoned three other men to him, wearing the same suit with the same red pocket square. Their peaked caps were pulled low over their eyes. Shinanoki slipped away into the darkness as they approached.

“Are you trying to intimidate me, Mr. Arciere?” Oak’s hand moved to the single Poké Ball on his belt.

“Now is not the time to use that,” said Arciere. “Have I uttered one threatening word during our conversation? I am prepared to meet any requirement you have – I have already offered a great deal.”

“The answer is no. I will not change my decision, and I will not go quietly like a shamed dog with his tail between his legs.”

The man frowned. “Then you have lost a very good friend. Don Giovanni will not be pleased to learn of this.”

Oak grew cold, as if suddenly pricked by the point of a thousand icicles. The blood drained from his face. Images flashed through his mind of violence under the cover of shadow, of gambling, of extortion, of Pokémon stolen screaming from their trainers at gunpoint and passed around as casino winnings, of judges and trainers and officials slipped parcels of money to throw matches and fix tournaments, all done under the black banner and the red letter ‘R.’

He looked away from Arciere. The sea below him was now black and vast, stretching out for unseen miles. He felt small and alone, even though he could still hear the voices and laughter from the house, not dimly illuminated under the darkening sky.

“I will go quietly, then,” he said, his voice hushed and frail. “But I will not accept your money, nor your friend’s gratitude.” Arciere nodded, but was stopped short before he had a chance to speak. “Tell Don Giovanni this: you and all of your Rocket allies will fail. You will fail because your greed has blinded you. We live alongside Pokémon as friends; they are our partners, not tools, not currency. All _true_ trainers know this. One day there will be someone – a braver and better man than I – who will come with all the power and might of his friends to stand against your corruption and profiteering, and he will put an end to you, and all of you who use Pokémon for profit.”

 

[1] Daigo Shinanoki, Grass-type trainer, Indigo League Champion 1964-1968. Shinanoki literally means “Linden tree.”


End file.
